Target Margin Theater and The Brick Present TNT LAB: EXPLORING YIDDISH THEATER, Now thru 11/3
By: BWW News Desk Oct. 17, 2012
Target Margin Theater, in association with Brooklyn's The Brick in Williamsburg, launches its 2012-13 season with their annual TMT Lab: Exploring Yiddish Theater curated by TMT Artistic Producer John Del Gaudio. TMT's Lab offers a sampler of works from the canon of Yiddish Theater, to remind us all how diverse and sophisticated Yiddish culture was, and how great its loss.
Target Margin Theater recently launched a two-season exploration of Yiddish Theater, Beyond the Pale, a look at domestic drama, philosophical drama, verse drama, avant-garde experimentation, political statement plays, and the good old nostalgic drama of the shtetl. Like a comet across the sky, Yiddish culture exploded in creativity in the 19th and 20th centuries, and then went tragically dark. But the literature lives on.
Performances begin tonight, October 17 for a limited engagement through Saturday, November 3, 2012 at The Brick (579 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn).
John Del Gaudio, curator and TMT Artistic Producer, in putting the scheduled together had this to share, "We're very excited to return to The Brick for our kick-off of all things Yiddish. With this year's Lab we want to show you a Yiddish theater you never knew existed: from spirits in the forest to trousers for bears, these works are rife with playful possibilities and our talented group of Lead Artists are more than up for the challenge."
Tickets are priced at $15 (early bird discount of $12 for all tickets purchased by October 5) with Late Night Programming tickets at $10. The special Reading and Panel are FREE. Tickets may be purchased by visiting www.targetmargin.org or www.bricktheater.com.
"The TMT Lab" schedule at The Brick is:
MAINSTAGE
October 17-21 at 7:30 p.m.
God, Man, and Devil
by Jacob Gordin
Lead Artist: Donya K. Washington
People are righteous when righteousness doesn't cost them much, or when it brings them some profit. Satan puts man to the test to show God how much he can depend on even the finest and best of them.
October 24-28 at 7:30 p.m.
Dukus
by Alter Kacyzne
Lead Artist: Joshua William Gelb
A profane retelling of an old legend about a Catholic Duke's conversion to Judaism and his subsequent martyrdom at the stake. First produced in Warsaw in 1925, this outrageous epic-drama shatters what Kacyzne considered tedious theatrical conventions of the time, reveling in the absurd hypocrisies so common to all religiously driven communities.
October 30 – November 3 at 7:30 p.m.
A Double Bill
After Midnight
by Samuel Daixel
Lead Artist: Stephanie Weeks
The clock strikes Midnight. All is still. But is it? Something's stirring, something's budding, howling, falling. Something...
Cripples
by David Pinski
Lead Artist: Ásta Bennie Hostetter
Watch the most damaged members of society vie for the smallest piece of land: "That isn't your place! ... Since I'm standing upon it, it's mine!"
LATE NIGHT PERFORMANCES
October 19 & 20 at 9:30 p.m.
A Night in the OLD Marketplace
by I.L. Peretz
Lead Artist: Kathleen Purcell
Love, Death, Gargoyles, and Settlement. An absurdist interpretation of this classic poetic/social drama explores the question: what came before the shtetl?
October 26 & 27 at 9:30p.m.
Purim-schmutz
Lead Artist: Joseph Fletcher
A pious, rowdy, and occasionally lewd telling of the story and spirit of the megile (the book of Esther) from a diverse selection of Purim plays. 1500 years of Yiddish theatre tradition wrapped up in the competition betwixt the religious and secular identity of a people.
November 2 & 3 at 9:30 p.m.
Shulamis, or The Well and the Pussycat
Lead Artist: Gil Sperling
Abraham Goldfaden's classic operetta offers hum-along Schlagers such as "Rozhinkes mit mandlen," mixed with male treachery, bride-snatching and infant mortality.
FREE EVENTS
Reading
Sunday, October 21 at 3:00 p.m.
The Haunted Inn
by Peretz Hirschbein
Directed by David Herskovits
A preview of Target Margin's mainstage production slated for Abrons Arts Center in March 2013. "It's Tevye on drugs," says Herskovits.
Panel
Monday, October 22 at 7:30 p.m.
The Other Yiddish Plays
with Debra Caplan, Caraid O'Brien, Alyssa Quint, and Nahma Sandrow
Beyond the unknown plays you could find in a library, lies the glorious field of Yiddish plays that have never been translated-this is the largest part of the literature by far, and includes some of the most celebrated works. What about all these unknown unknowns??? Four scholars who do know introduce you to a few of these works, a taste of heaven to whet your appetite.
In March 2013, Target Margin will continue the 2012-2013 season with the re-imagined classic, The Haunted Inn by Peretz Hirschbein directed by TMT's Artistic Director, David Herskovits at Abrons Art Center at Henry Street Settlement (466 Grand Street at Pitt Street). The shtetl turns uncanny in Hirschbein's classic of Yiddish life in The Haunted Inn. You might be expecting The Farm life, the chicken-plucking and the arranged marriage, but not the S&M lust and the body-snatching wedding guests. The Haunted Inn was an early touchstone for experimental theater in Yiddish, a sensation in Vilna, in London and in a 1917 New York production. This play is a perfect example of why TMT believes Yiddish drama is as innovative and challenging as any in the world.
Special Target Margin Theater Memberships are now available and priced at $100 and include 2 tickets to all LAB show at The Brick, 2 tickets to The Haunted Inn at Abrons Art Center, 2 tickets to a special concert at Abrons Art Center in March 2013, invitations to readings, workshops and other special events, in addition to top of the line concierge service.
Additional season and membership information available at www.targetmargin.org.
Target Margin Theater for twenty-two years has been at the forefront of New York's alternative theater scene and has been praised for its bold and sometimes wild interpretations of classic dramas and lesser-known works. Target Margin Theater has presented ambitious re-thinkings of plays by Shakespeare, Chekov, Brecht, Gertrude Stein, and Beaumarchais, among others. The company's production of Mamba's Daughters received the Obie Award and was a sensation of the 1999 Spoleto Festival, and its recent epic production of Goethe's Faust received critical acclaim. Recent productions include Uncle Vanya and The Tempest at HERE.
The Brick is a not-for-profit theater company dedicated to nurturing the work of emerging artists at its performance space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn-The Brick. The Brick presents world premieres, monthly performance series, and seasonal festivals, expanding Williamsburg's profile as a destination for cutting-edge art and entertainment. The Brick continues to seek new artists and projects, to provide them with a creative home, and to serve as Williamsburg's primary incubator of innovative theater arts.
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